The bumpers of modern motor vehicles mostly comprise a large-area bumper shell that forms a part of the visible outer skin of the vehicle. On the one hand it is designed in order to absorb and yield backwards subject to minor energy absorption, on the other hand it covers parts of the bumper such as a cross member which are able to deform subject to the absorption of large amounts of energy.
It is desirable that the bumper does not have any unnecessarily sharp exposed edges. A motor vehicle in Europe can therefore only be approved for road traffic if it does not have any edges with a curvature radius of less than 2.5 mm which could come in contact with a test body of 100 mm diameter impacting the body. In order to satisfy this requirement, openings of the bumper shell which for instance are required for the installation of headlamps are usually not simply punched out of the bumper shell but comprise a short socket extending all around the opening and engaging into the vehicle interior which socket via a continuous curvature merges with the outer surface of the bumper shell. During the molding of the bumper shell, this curvature can be easily created with the necessary radius but requires adapted tooling in each case.
An opening, which is only present in a part of the bumpers of a series, increases the cost of production substantially since separate sets of molding tools for the production of bumper shells with and without opening are required. In order to avoid these costs the applicant has developed a bumper wherein an opening of the bumper shell through which a load carrier, more preferably a bicycle carrier, can be pulled out of the body, is subsequently cut into a finished molded bumper shell. Although through the subsequent cutting of the opening a sharp edge, at which a cut edge of the opening meets the outer surface of the bumper, is created, this does not however create any licensing problems since the opening is formed in a depression of the bumper that also accommodates the license plate so that the sharp edge is not accessible to the above-mentioned test body. If however the opening can only be formed in a depression of the bumper shell this results in substantial restrictions in the design freedom of the body.
Therefore, there is at least a need for a bumper for a motor vehicle which despite an opening cut out with a sharp edge can be licensable without the opening on the bumper shell having to be arranged in a depressed manner. In addition, other needs, desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent summary and detailed description, and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background.